This invention generally relates to a food composition having increased palatability to dogs and specifically relates to the use of a palatability enhancing amount of 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol on the dog food composition to provide the improvement in palatability.
Dried animal or pet foods are widely marketed for pets such as cats and dogs. Generally, commercially sold dried pet food products have a relatively low moisture content of less than about 12% by weight and provide excellent nutrition. The lower moisture content permits a higher degree of nutritional balancing of ingredients. Typically, these dried pet food products are expanded or puffed products produced by extrusion techniques.
Extrusion cooking processes for the production of dry pet foods have been a significant factor in the growth of this market segment because of the better cooking achieved with this type of process, and better mixing of ingredients, as well as the desirable texture achieved with a puffed or expanded product. Dry products produced by this type of process are generally well accepted by the animal, but they are significantly lower in palatability than canned or high moisture products that typically contain meat and have a moisture content above 50% by weight. Therefore, although a dry product for dogs is extremely convenient to use by the pet owner and exceptionally nutritious, a need has continually existed for additives or ingredients that can be included in the food product to increase palatability of the product to dogs without reducing the nutritive properties of the product.
One solution to the problem of reduced palatability of dried dog foods is to increase the moisture content to a point where the dog will more readily accept it but to a point that is below the level of moisture at which canning or sterilization of the product is required for maximum bacteriological stability. This has been satisfactorily achieved in the so-called intermediate moisture pet foods wherein the moisture content of the product is typically between 15-45% by weight and the water activity thereof is controlled to provide bacteriological and mycotic stability. Typical food products wherein sugar solutions and water soluble solids are used to provide bacteriological stability are characterized in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,202,514, 3,482,985; 3,515,838; 3,615,652; and 3,653,908. Other preservatives suitable for food use that are bactericidal in nature may also be used to stabilize the product bacteriologically.
While these intermediate moisture type products are more palatable to dogs than those of the low moisture type, they are not as palatable as the high moisture products. In addition, the intermediate moisture type products suffer from the deficiency that the preservative system needed for this type of product often depresses palatability below that obtained for the same product without the preservative. Furthermore, ingredient formulation becomes exceptionally critical in these intermediate moisture and dry products and formulations typically cannot be altered by the use of ingredients of equal nutritive properties unless it can be determined that the alternative ingredient does not depress palatability. Since each ingredient used must be evaluated not only for its nutritive properties but also for its relative effect on palatability, the formulation of the intermediate moisture type product is complex. The flexibility in formulation that a pet food manufacturer would like to have is consequently reduced. The need for palatability enhancing additives for dog foods has, therefore, not been obviated by the introduction of intermediate moisture type products.
The present invention represents a significant improvement in enhancing the palatability of dog food compositions by applying a palatability enhancing amount of 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3ol to the dog food composition.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a dog food composition that is more palatable to dogs than conventional dog food compositions.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of enhancing the palatability of a dog food material of the dry or intermediate moisture type.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for the enhancement of palatability of a dog food material that is generally useful and easy to apply on a commercial scale.